'Red Tails' brings stars and students together in Tuskegee

TUSKEGEE, Alabama — Hollywood came to Tuskegee University Monday, as the high-flying George Lucas-produced air-adventure “Red Tails” touched down on the same historic black college campus where the World War II heroes who inspired the film earned their wings.

Throughout the day, guests lined up to ride a “Red Tails” flight simulator that was parked on campus, while others waited outside the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center Auditorium to take pictures and get autographs of the film’s stars.

Syndicated radio talk-show host Tom Joyner, a Tuskegee graduate, flew over the campus earlier in the day and landed at historic Moton Field before taking part in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day memorial observance with singer and fellow Tuskegee alum Lionel Richie at the University Chapel. Joyner and Richie later introduced an afternoon screening of “Red Tails” at the Kellogg Center. The movie opens nationwide Friday.

“We have been talking about this moment of having a movie about our dads and moms and here we are (with) the reality of it,” Richie said. “It’s just fabulous for us to be here and represent this.” Cast members who attended Monday’s screening and surrounding events were Terrence Howard, who stars as Col. A.J. Bullard; David Oyelowo, who plays Joe “Lightning” Little; Elijah Kelley, who plays Samuel “Joker” George; and Nate Parker, who plays Marty “Easy” Julian.

“It’s a huge honor to be here on the actual Tuskegee campus,” Oyelowo said. “We, as actors, have had to do a lot of research, a lot of work, to get it right. But to actually be on the soil where these men learned the amazing things they did is just a huge honor.”

Kelley encouraged those in the audience to help spread the word about “Red Tails” and to go out and support it after it opens.

“Let the world know that we are proud of our heritage; we are proud of our stories and our heroes,” Kelley said.

For Parker, Monday’s trip to Tuskegee was special, he said, because he grew up in nearby LaGrange, Ga.

“It is just so amazing to be able to pay tribute to the brothers that I love, to come to a region that loves us back, and for us to make you proud, for us to make the area proud, for us to make the city of Tuskegee proud, and to show the world who exactly these men were,” Parker said.

Current Tuskegee students Franca Bennett and Jessica Warbington participated in the King celebration as members of the Tuskegee University Liturgical Dance Ensemble and then sat in the audience to watch Monday’s “Red Tails” screening.

Bennett, a junior from Indianapolis, Ind., said she learned about the Tuskegee Airmen during freshman orientation and was thrilled to be a part of Monday’s events.

“This is so historic on all levels,” Bennett said. “We’re in total awe.”

Tuskegee Airmen

The movie’s title refers to the distinctive red mark that the Tuskegee Airmen painted on the tails of their planes. The black airmen flew to fame in World War II after they were told they lacked the courage and the intelligence of their white counterparts.

Master Sgt. Stephan Kimbrough, Air Force Reserve recruiter, talks with moviegoers Dec. 15, 2011 in Anchorage, Alaska before the advanced screening of George Lucas' new film, Red Tails, about the Tuskegee Airmen. The 477th Fighter Group and 302nd Fighter Squadron trace their heritage back to two Tuskegee units. (AP Photo/Courtesy of U. S. Air Force Photo, Capt. Ashley Conner)

Lucas, best known for his “Star Wars” movies, produced and co-wrote “Red Tails,” which is the feature filmmaking debut for director Anthony Hemingway.

“Red Tails,” Hemingway said, is “a fun, exciting roller-coaster ride that exposes the goodness, the bravery, the courage, the discipline, the faith, the passion and the excellence of the Tuskegee Airmen that will hopefully inspire our youth to stand up and carry the torch and continue our legacy.”

Parker said he was especially motivated to do the story justice after visiting with some of the surviving airmen.

“To see the faces of the airmen, to see how proud they are of us, it is everything to us,” he said.

After visiting the Tuskegee campus and meeting some of the students, Howard said the legacy of the airmen lives on.

“We tried to imagine what those young men must have felt like 67 years ago, but coming here to Tuskegee, Ala., and Tuskegee University, I get to see what those young men were like 67 years ago, in 2012, when I look in your eyes,” he said. “I’ve been so encouraged by the intelligence and fortitude that you all have shown.”